The Locket
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Despite not feeling in the holiday spirit due to the loss of his wife and daughter, Henry decides to help Lucy make Jacinda's Christmas special.


Holidays after you lost a child were never easy. Every twinkle of the lights, every lyric of being together with family, even the smell of peppermint hot chocolate brought Henry a heartful of pain. His mind floated to Lauren and Abigail, how much they both loved Christmas. With an aspiring writer and chef, they couldn't afford to give Abby everything she always wanted, but they always tried to do Christmas right. Now, he hadn't even decorated his apartment. Any decorations that survived the fire were safely tucked away, including the handmade ornaments that Abby made in class.

Apparently, Hyperion Heights hadn't gotten the message. The town was decorated all out, looking like Santa's Village had thrown up. He couldn't even walk from his car to Roni's without nearly tripping over plastic candy canes.

Two more weeks, he told himself. Two more weeks and it would all be over.

Before he could walk into the bar to meet up with Rogers, he found Lucy camped out behind a makeshift booth. She had a thermos with some Styrofoam cups. A handmade sign read "Hot cocoa, 50 cents a cup".

"Hey Luce," he said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Well, it's too cold for a lemonade stand, so I figured I'd do a hot chocolate one. Roni said I could do it outside her bar, since Grandma wouldn't let me do it in front of Belfrey Towers."

Henry tilted his head. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to get something really nice for my mom. We passed by this antique shop on Gold Street and there was this locket. I saw how much she wanted it but she can't exactly afford jewelry these days." She sighed, looking over at the coffee can that she was keeping her profits in. "At this rate, I might be able to afford it by her birthday, not Christmas."

Henry frowned, his heart touched by how much Lucy wanted to surprise her mom. He knew that Jacinda was a struggling single mom, she had mentioned that she was working hard to get presents for Lucy. Victoria had actually agreed to let her have Lucy on Christmas Day, rather than just a few hours on Christmas Eve as it had been since she was granted custody of her. He realized that while there were many charities doing their best to make sure that every child had a present on Christmas, no one paid much attention to the moms.

"What does this locket look like?" He asked.

"It's gold, with a silhouette on each side. It's really old fashioned and not at all her style, but she couldn't stop staring at it. I can tell it's what she really wants. Besides, in your book, Cinderella's mom had a locket just like that one. She gave it to her husband on their wedding day. Plus, when Henry and Ella had the two sides touch, they glowed. Which showed they had true love."

Henry should've known it'd all connect to the book, that was all Lucy seemed to talk about. He decided to ignore that piece of information. "How much have you made so far?"

Lucy counted the change out. "Five bucks."

"With that, I bet you could make her an even better necklace."

She made a face. "I'm not 10, my arts and crafts designs aren't that interesting anymore."

"Oh, I don't know about that." He stuck a five dollar bill into the coffee can. "Go buy the supplies and make her one. I'm sure she'll love it."

Lucy gave him a doubtful face, but he simply nodded. Rather than head inside Roni's, he went back to his car and drove to the antique shop. Sure enough, the locket was in the window. Like Lucy said, it did match the one he had described in his book, but he chalked that up to coincidence. Besides, the one in his book was ripped in half. This one was put together.

Going inside, he asked the shop owner to wrap it up, paying the fifty dollars for it. A bit much, but it'd be worth it to make Jacinda smile.

Getting the necklace inside the apartment was a bit tougher. Luckily, Sabine seemed to trust him and when he explained the situation, her eyes lit up with joy. She lead him into the apartment and showed him the gift that she had helped Lucy wrap. The necklace inside was adorable, made with wooden beads that shaped into a heart, showing off the young girl's creativity. Sabine agreed to hide it and put it on the tree on Christmas morning. He wrapped up the locket in matching paper and left it in the same spot the old one had been, before slipping out of the apartment.

Waking up on Christmas morning in her mom's apartment was a lot more fun for Lucy than waking up at her grandma's. Aunt Sabine made her famous pancakes and they ate them while they went through their stockings. Mom let her stay in her pajamas all day, unlike Grandma who made her put on an itchy dress right away. They were able to take their time, while Aunt Ivy and Grandma insisted on rushing through them so they could get to brunch at the hotel they owned in Seattle. While the gifts weren't as extravagant, Lucy loved her new books, clothes and art supplies even more than she did the iPod she had opened the night before at Belfrey Towers.

After she opened up hers, Aunt Sabine and her mom exchanged their gifts. Next came the gifts from Lucy. Sabine gave her a big hug when she unwrapped the scarf that Jacinda had helped her crochet. Lucy watched with a heavy heart as her mom unwrapped her gift. She knew Jacinda would say she loved it and wear it proudly, but deep down it wouldn't be what she had truly wanted.

Yet, when her mom took off the snowman wrapping, she uncovered a black velvet box. Lucy tilted her head and watched as her mom opened it, gasping at what was inside. She rushed to Jacinda's side and found the locket from the antique store nestled in the blue fabric. Jacinda flipped it open, tears welling up as she flipped it open to reveal the silhouette figures.

"Lucy," she breathed. "How did you get this?"

"She worked really hard," Sabine cut in before Lucy could speak. "Sold lots of hot chocolate and treats in front of Roni's."

"Oh sweetheart." Jacinda pulled her daughter into her arms, hugging her close. "Thank you so much, you are truly the sweetest daughter in the world."

Lucy hugged her mother back, still feeling very confused. Even so, she accepted her mothers many hugs, kisses and thanks. It wasn't until her mom went to go get ready for the day that Lucy approached her aunt.

"Did you go and buy the locket?" She asked.

Sabine shook her head. "Nope. It was Santa's magic."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Aunt Sabine. You know I stopped believing in Santa a long time ago."

She sighed. "It was Henry, actually. He stopped by the apartment last week with the locket, asking me to help replace your gift under the tree."

"Henry did this?"

"He saw how badly you wanted to do this for your mom and wanted to help."

A smile spread across Lucy's face. "He did this because he loves her."

"Maybe, but I think he did it because he cares so much about you."

Lucy's eyebrows knitted together, folding her arms over her chest. "I know we have to go to your mom's in a bit…but can you help me with something first?"

Henry slept in on Christmas morning, not wanting to face the day. Eventually, he forced himself out of bed when he got yet another text from Roni inviting him down to the bar for their annual holiday party. The promise of free booze and food, along with the fact that it wouldn't be too festive, was enough to convince him to shower. He knew he couldn't go back to how he was after Lauren and Abby died. He had come along way to regress like that.

After showering, he pulled on his jacket and scarf before opening the door. He paused upon seeing a tiny Charlie Brown style Christmas tree sitting there, decorated with homemade ornaments. There was a card attached, with his name scrawled across it. He opened the envelope and pulled it out

_Henry,_

_Thank you so much for what you did for me and my mom. She was so happy, she smiled more than I have seen her do in so long. You truly made our Christmas special, so I decided to do something for you. These are all ornaments I made when I was younger, but they didn't fit on my tree at Aunt Sabine and Mom's this year. I hope you enjoy it._

_Merry Christmas. Thank you for bringing magic back into our lives._

_-Lucy_

A single tear fell down Henry's face as he pulled the tree into his arms. Maybe he didn't feel very magical these days, but at the very least he had brought it to the Vidrio girls.


End file.
